


God Mode

by Marvelite5Ever



Series: That X-Force AU where the mercenaries like attention, the telepathekenetics have varying degrees of guilt complexes, and the genetically enhanced, nanoactive supersoldiers are almost constantly confused [5]
Category: Cable and Deadpool, Deadpool (Comics), Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, F/M, Gen, God-Like Power, Information is Power, M/M, Nate has his Omega-Level powers back, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, Power Corrupts, Skrull Invasion, and Supervillains, and he uses those powers to help the Earth's superheroes, defeat the Skrull Armada
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:22:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5568973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvelite5Ever/pseuds/Marvelite5Ever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Sequel to <i>Mission Impossible</i>.)</p><p>How Cable orchestrated the defeat of the Skrull Invasion.</p><p>Oh, and then what happens with Cable and his newly revamped powers... because having Omega-Level telepathy and telekenesis means feeling obliged to do something, which basically means either saving the world, ruling it, destroying it, or changing it.</p><p>(Cable had forgotten how much he hated knowing everything.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Skrull Invasion

* * *

_**~The beginning of the Skrull Invasion, high above New York~** _

* * *

Cable levitated upside-down, legs crossed in the lotus position, hands placed palms together, fingers facing out. He was surrounded by the blue glow that indicated the presence of his telekenesis, and the pulsing light of his left eye was visible through his closed eyelid—not that anyone could see it, as he was too far up in the atmosphere and shielding himself from gazes of any type. 

In order to get his Omega-Level telepathy and telekenesis back he'd needed to reform the part of his brain that had been lobotomized—he still wouldn't tell his team how he did it. 

It didn't really matter _how,_ anyway. All that mattered was that he now had the power to end the Skrull Invasion.

Right now he was combing through the minds of every intelligent being on Earth and within a certain radius of the planet. 

As he did, the keyboard on the computer in a room within the X-Force base tapped away, Cable using his telekenesis to type in the coordinates of all the Skrulls, their stolen identities if they were disguised, and any and all the important information he could pull from their minds. 

Very few beings could shield against his powerful telepathy. 

Not even the psi-blocks Fantomex were wearing could keep him out—he'd slipped past the blocks and searched Fantomex's mind just enough to make sure that he wasn't a Skrull before retreating (a Skrull might have been able to mimic his appearance, personality, and powers, but a Skrull wouldn't have been able to possess the man's three different brains). 

Deadpool's mind was impossible to make sense of, but Cable could easily tell that he truly was Wade Wilson. 

The Skrulls had been far more thorough in their secret infiltration of Earth than Cable had realized. 

Spider-Woman had been a Skrull (she'd been taken care of, though—without their Queen, a wrench was thrown in the Skrulls' plans). 

Hank Pym was a Skrull. Black Bolt was a Skrull. Elektra was a Skrull. Dum Dum Dugan. Edwin Jarvis. Mockingbird. Brother Voodoo. So many others. 

The Skrulls had infiltrated every team, the Avengers, new and secret, the Illuminati, the Inhumans, S.H.I.E.L.D, Wakanda's government, the mutants, the Initiative, even the Avengers' staff. 

Many of the impostors were Super-Skrulls with various abilities of Earth's heroes. They were undetectable by Stark's technology, Stephen Strange's magic, Xavier's telepathy. 

Skrull ships waited around the planet, just out of the range of humans' detection. One of the ships housed the heroes of Earth that had been replaced. 

People were aware of the Skrull Invasion, now, but they had absolutely no idea the extent—no idea how close the Skrulls were to taking the Earth. Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and Henry Pym (a Skrull himself) had only just met up to examine the body of the Spider-Woman-Skrull. Amusingly enough, they were almost more worried about the news that Cable had Omega-Level powers again and had threatened to kill the New Avengers. (Deadpool would get a kick out of that.) 

The Skrulls plan was set up like dominoes, all ready to fall into place and cause a mounting wave of chaos and destruction. 

But now that the Skrulls had lost their Queen (they hadn't realized it yet, but when they did, it would surely devastate their morale), and now Cable had the power to stop them. 

In the room, Marvel Boy was cursing furiously as he read and interpreted the data, spitting the information at the others when they asked, all of them quickly growing alarmed (except for Deadpool, who just grew excited). 

_~Calm down,~_ Cable told them, projecting a strong sense of confidence and assurance. _~I can handle this.~_

Fantomex, Psylocke, and Domino projected doubt. Marvel Boy still seethed with anger. 

_~You go, Nate!~_ Deadpool thought at him. _~Show those stupid Skrulls who's boss! Boss Mode—yeaaaah! War, love or peace, war-war, love or peace, best protect-tect, best-best protect your neck!~_

And that was all the encouragement Cable needed. 

With his current amount of power, he could just destabilize the atoms of all the Skrulls with a _thought_ —tempting, but he knew that, ultimately, it would not be a wise decision. It would instill more confusion and fear than anything else. Just because he had the power to do that kind of thing didn't mean that he _should._ (He couldn't let himself become like _Stryfe._ ) 

_~When the planets collide, stars in your eyes~_

The heroes of Earth could defeat the Skrulls themselves—they just needed to know what was going on.

_~Open your mind, angel in disguise~_

So Cable just needed to tell them. 

_~When the planets collide, stars in your eyes~_

When Tony Stark got called in by Agent Brand to investigate a Skrull ship that crashed in the Savage Land, leaving Reed Richards and Hank Pym to examine the Spider-Woman-Skrull, Cable informed Richards that Pym was a Skrull before Pym could pull out his laser weapon and shoot him. So now Richards was dealing with that, and wouldn't get captured, tortured, and used to help the Invasion, like had been the Skrulls' plan. 

_~Open your mind, angel in disguise~_

Cable informed Tony Stark that Jarvis was a Skrull, so Stark could deal with that now, and wouldn't later get his computer infected with an alien virus that would disable the Iron Man's armor systems as well as the entire Stark Network, including the Helicarrier and The Cube.

_~Switch!~_

When the Avengers and the Secret Avengers were on their way to investigate the crashed Skrull ship in the Savage Land, Cable told them what to expect—the ship would have a Beast, Thor, Spider-Man, Phoenix, Iron Man, Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch, Susan Storm, Captain America, Wolverine, Mockingbird, Power Man, Hawkeye, Emma Frost, and Jewel, all claiming they had made it back to Earth, when in reality they were all Skrulls.

_~War, love or peace, war, love or peace~_

Cable informed S.W.O.R.D. that Commander Dugan was a Skrull before he could set off an explosion that would destroy the S.W.O.R.D. headquarters. 

With S.W.O.R.D. remaining intact, they were able to detect the massive Skrull invasion fleet that was arriving at Earth's doorstep, and respond accordingly.

_~War, love or peace, war, love or peace~_

When Electro was getting hired to institute a massive prison break on The Raft by a Skrull disguised as Elektra, Cable told Electro that Elektra was a Skrull and the prison break was part of the Skrulls' plan to take over the Earth, and let Electro make an informed decision about what to do. 

_~Best protect-tect, best-best protect your neck!~_

Cable let the Fantastic Four know that a Skrull disguised as a tourist was going to change into Susan Storm, enter the lab, and open a gateway to the Negative Zone to create a massive vacuum within the Baxter Building that would engulf the building and the surroundings. 

_~Wake up!~_

When a Skrull posing as the classic Vision went up to the Sentry to try to convince Robert Reynolds to stay out of the fight by telling him that the Skrull Invasion was the fault of The Void, Cable informed Reynolds of the true situation, and the Sentry destroyed the Skrull and headed out into space to attack the Skrull fleet before it reached Earth. 

_~Wake up!~_

When the first wave of Super-Skrull shock troops bearing the abilities of Earth's super-humans arrived in Manhattan, with only the Young Avengers and Runaways there to fight against them, Cable sent his X-Force team to Manhattan to help. With Fantomex's biological spaceship, E.V.A., they were there in seconds, dropping in on the Skrulls like the seasoned, deadly warriors they were. 

_~Wake up!~_

Britain was about to be attacked by a Skrull armada and a wave of empowered Super-Skrulls, and the British government had been infiltrated by Skrulls—but they were about to be exposed by John the Skrull (a Skrull turncoat loyal to MI:13 and who had taken the form of John Lennon), and it would be easy enough for Captain Britain to figure out that the Skrulls were after the Siege Perilous, so Cable didn't see need to interfere. 

_~Wake up!~_

A Skrull posing as Athena gathered all Earth gods to prepare a “God Squad” to fight the Skrull Gods. Hercules, Snowbird, Tecumotzin, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, and Atum the God Eater were chosen as the team. The Skrull Athena may have been trying to get rid of the heavy hitters, but Cable suspected the plan would backfire, so he didn't interfere with that, either. 

_~Slightly different!~_

When Spider-Man confronted Ka-Zar and Shanna, accusing them of being Skrulls, Cable informed him that they weren't, and he likewise informed Ka-Zar and Shanna that the Spider-Man was the genuine article. 

_~When the planets collide~_

X-Force, the Young Avengers, and the Runaways were assisted in Manhattan by Nick Fury (an LMD) and his new Howling Commandos. The Skrulls tried to execute Hulkling, but Xavin stopped them.  
Khn'nr, a sleeper Captain Marvel Skrull, attacked and defeated most of the Thundebolts, but Norman Osborn was offering him a chance to explain himself—Cable didn't interfere. 

_~Stars in your eyes~_

The Skrulls had no idea where their Queen was, and their plans weren't working—they were nervous. If they found out their Queen had been killed, they would just get angry. It was better to keep them nervous, for the moment. 

_~Open your mind~_

A Skrull called Nogor was posing as Longshot and moving with Darwin through Detroit, but Nogot was being tracked by Jazinda and She-Hulk, and Darwin was starting to 'evolve' to the point where he could recognize Nogor as a Skrull and defeat him, so Cable saw no reason to interfere. 

_~Angel in disguise~_

Delroy Garrett, the 3-D Man, had met up with Point Men team members Star Sign, Paydirt, and Devil-Slayer in Hawaii. When he met the final team member Magnitude, Garett's goggles allowed him to identify Magnitude as a Skrull imposter, and was able to kill him with a sword magically summoned by Devil-Slayer. When Devil-Slayer used his Shadow Cloak to teleport 3-D Man to Camp Hammond, announcing to everyone assembled that the Initiative had been infiltrated by Skrulls, Cable let them know that Crusader was a Skrull with loyalties to Earth before he could use his Freedom Ring to cause 3-D Man's goggles to make him see everyone surrounding him as a Skrull and being forced to take his leave. 

_~War, love or peace, war~_

The battle in Manhattan was leaning in the Earth heroes' favor, and Cable only interfered to tell Fury that Ms. Marvel was the real Carol Danvers before he could pull the trigger to shoot her.

_~Love or peace~_

Watching the battle via news broadcast on live television, the Hood decided to take his rebuilt empire of the New York City criminal roster and battle the Skrulls, because no more Earth would be bad for business. Once he'd gathered the criminals together, he was able to cast a spell to see if any of them were Skrulls, and, discovering that the Slug was a Skrull, promptly killed him. 

_~War, love~_

Cable let Maria Hill know that many of her S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were Skrulls, before they could turn on her. 

_~Or peace~_

The Avengers in the Savage Land were returning to New York. 

_~Best protect-tect~_

Thor and Captain America (James Buchanan Barnes) joined the fight in Manhattan. 

_~Best-best~_

The God Squad's battle ended when Hercules stabbed the Skrull God Kly'bn, which gave the Skrulls a huge upset in their war campaign. 

_~Protect your neck!~_

Skrulls settled in Portland, Oregon, and enslaved the population, but Gorilla Man and M-11 attacked them and freed Namora, the three of them capturing the regional Skrull commander, taking his head and bringing to their underwater saucer where Bob Grayson and Venus were waiting, and were extracting military secrets from the severed head just as they were attacked. They repelled the attack, liberated Portland, and set a course for Seattle to secure that city, intending on securing the country before moving to Japan. But they questioned who they could trust—so Cable let them know. 

Norman Osborn had talked the Skrull-Captain Marvel out of destroying the Thunderbolts. He then declared to U.S. troops that they were at war. Cable didn't need to interfere. 

The Skrulls announced that they intended to assimilate all humans into their culture and way of life, declaring Earth to be part of the Skrull empire, and that the only way for the human race to save their plan was to assimilate. 

Cable decided that was the perfect time to let the Skrulls know that their Queen was dead—the Skrulls' efforts became chaos, unorganized, panicked, making it easier for the heroes of Earth to combat them. The Skrulls were desperate—their anger gave them extra power, but it made them sloppy. 

Deadpool was having the time of his life fighting Skrulls alongside the big league heroes. He was the only one truly enjoying himself, and Cable used the feeling to help keep himself going (he'd forgotten how much he hated knowing everything—it was _exhausting._ Ignorance is bliss, and all that.) And Cable couldn't help but feel a surge of dark satisfaction whenever any of the Avengers who had beaten Deadpool up realized that the mercenary had just saved their life. 

The sleeper Skrull Captain Marvel, with a new sense of purpose as he realized that his alliance was to Earth, not the Skrulls, engaged and destroyed a large portion of the Skrull fleet.

On the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Maria Hill activated the self-destruct sequence, realizing there were too many Skrull agents for any other course of action. 

When Reed Richards arrived at the battle, he fired his new weapon into the center of the crowd of superheroes, and when the dust and brightness receded, it was revealed who was a Skrull and who wasn't, making the battle easier. 

The Skrulls launched an attack on San Francisco, believing the city to be virtually defenseless except for local police. However, they didn't count on the X-Men being there on the island of Utopia, and the X-Men launched a counter strike, defending civilians and evacuating badly attacked buildings. The X-Men took over the Skrulls' command shuttle, and the Skrulls launched their super soldiers into the city from an orbiting ship. Cable warned the X-Men in advance. 

Scott Summers was surprised, responding with an onslaught of inquiries. 

Cable gave him the bare minimum of exposition, and a promise of _~I'll explain details later, Dad.~_

In Wakanda, a Skrull posing as Brother Voodoo attacked and attempted to kill Cannibal, and when the two killed each other and Brother Voodoo was revealed to be a Skrull, Black Panther was warned of the Skrull Invasion, allowing him to prepare. Wakanda had the invasion of their lands under control, and Cable knew better than to interfere. 

The Inhuman city of Attilan was attacked by the Skrulls. When Medusa received news that Black Bolt had been replaced by a Skrull, she headed into space to try to find the ship that had Black Bolt on it, and Cable informed her where it was. 

Thor and Beta Ray Bill had the Skrull Invasion of New Asgard under control. 

The Skrull Kill Crew recruited 3-D Man and approached Arizona's Desert Stars, determining Blacksmith to be an impostor. After the battle, they planned on going to Las Vegas. 

Most of the Shadow Initiative stayed at Camp Hammond while most others went to fight the Skrulls in New York 

When the skrulls tried to use Camp Hammond as a base, Ant-Man and the Shadow Initiative were able to stop them. 

Normon Osborn and his Thunderbolts launched a counter-attack on the Skrull force invading Washington DC.

The New Warriors were fighting of a Super-Skrull possessing the founding Warriors' powers on a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarried, while Donell confirmed that the remains of Night Thrasher who had been killed in Stamford were authenticated and not a Skrull, and had them removed from the carrier for burial. 

At the DB (formerly the _Daily Bugle_ ), Jackpot was fighting a Super-Skrull in Spider-Man's form searching for the wall-crawler. Jackpot refused to tell him, and the Skrull changed into a composite form with the powers and abilities of various Spider-Man villains, including Lizard, Rhino, Electro, Hydro-man, Sandman, and Venom. Jackpot held of the Super-Skrull long enough for the DB workers to exit the building. She was attacked by Menace, who limped away from the scene after her glider exploded upon contact with a Skrull. Jackpot killed the Sinister Six-Skrull by trapping it in a freezer where it froze to death. 

Hood's syndicate attacked the Skrulls. 

The Punisher got involved in the fight against the Skrulls, faring well against them before getting sidetracked in a fight with Stuart Clarke. 

Marvel Boy was talking with a dying Captain Marvel. 

The Skrulls managed to restore the global communication systems and made an announcement: that they only wanted to improve Earth's culture and add to it, not kill anyone; that they had attacked organizations like the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Fantastic Four because they stood in the way of their progress as a society; and that they were part of their problems and they wished to change that. 

The New Avengers, the Mighty Avengers, X-Force, Nick Fury & his commandos, the Young Avengers, the Initiative, the Hood's crew, Thor, the new Captain America, Howard the Duck, and the Thunderbolts all assembled in New York to take down the Skrulls—it was an all-out war between the Skrulls and the super-humans of Earth.

Meanwhile, the Skrulls were trying to take Nova out of the equation before he could return home and help defend his own planet by trying to lure Nova into an ambush on a remote planet under the ruse of an isolated Phalanx infestation, but Cable let him know that it was a trap. 

The mind played tricks on you—most people didn't trust Cable when he telepathically gave them information about the Skrulls, but once Cable told them, even the people who didn't trust him couldn't cast away their doubt and suspicion. (Doubt was a powerful seed that, when planted in the mind, grew and spread like a weed, difficult to eradicate.) Even if they didn't immediately trust and believe him, the people Cable told were more cautious and wary, and were ready for the attacks when they happened. 

Cable was more powerful than ever—he was omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. And it was exhausting, thrilling, terrifying. 

It was hard to judge how much to do—hard not to be tempted to really _use_ all the power that he had. 

_~Just do what you think is right, big guy,~_ Deadpool thought at him. _~Because if you think it's right, then it_ probably _is. But if you're worried, just think to yourself, 'Would_ Stryfe _do this?' And if the answer is Yes, then you probably shouldn't do it. Don't end up like the evil twin!Now go be a god-like messiah savior guy!~_

(Cable would always be the man that the world needed him to be.)

_~Rock what you got!~ Wade was singing in his head. ~Rock what you got! Don't ever let them make you stop!~_

The Skull Kill Krew and their Initiative allies were moving on to other Initiative bases, killing the Skrull impostors. Cloud 9 and Gravity were added to their group. 

_~Rock what you got! Light up the lot! No one can rock the way you rock!~_

The Skrulls sent a broadcast through the world, telling their sleeper agents to activate themselves. The sleeper Skrulls were supposed to remain in their impostor forms, but Cable took hold of their minds just enough to force them into their Skrull forms (the way he'd done with the Skrull Queen Veranke), taking away the element of surprise and preventing the distrust among Earth's heroes that the Skrulls had been hoping for.

_~Rock what you got! Rock what you got! Don't ever let them make you stop!~_

Cable revealed the Skrulls' last resort plan to Ant-Man and the Skrull Kill Krew: the Skrulls planned to use all the Initiative bases to create a massive Negative Zone portal that would take the entire country. With six bases left, the Krew split up, Devil-Slayer managing to teleport them to the bases before collapsing from exhaustion.

_~Rock what you got!Light up the lot!~_

The Wasp had been given a new growth serum that would turn her into an explosive trap when activated. Criti Noll, the Skrull who'd been impersonating Hank Pym and had given it to her, had been locked up in the Baxter Building by Reed Richards. Before he could activate the serum from a distance, Cable killed him with a thought. 

_(So much power.)_

_~No one can rock the way you rock!~_

The Initiative members combated their Skrull opponents who had received their mission to activate themselves, but even though the Skrulls re-disguised themselves as soon as they could, they had been revealed for long enough to ruin the surprise. 

When there a was a crowd uprising with some of the members being Skrulls and 3-D Man's goggles got busted by a thrown rock and 3-D Man and his allies started having trouble figuring out who was a Skrull and who wasn't, until 3-D Man also discovered he could see who was a Skrull even without his goggles, turning the tide against the Skrulls disguised as crowd members. 

In New York, the combined might of all the super-humans was evidently defeating the Skrull armada.  
Tony Stark found the ship containing the heroes and humans that had been replaced (the Skrulls had needed the original abductees alive because they were the original source material for the Skrulls genetic disguises (a different ship from the one Black Bolt had been on).

The battle ended to the relief of all the super-humans except Deadpool, who was always happiest in the middle of conflict. The Avengers immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was the one to blame for the Skrull Invasion, but X-Force was there to defend him. Everybody was trying to find somebody to blame.

Before things could get heated, Cable stepped in.

_~Deadpool is not responsible for the Skrull Invasion. Neither is anybody here—only the Skrulls are to blame for their own actions. The need to always have a scapegoat is a human folly and you all dishonor yourselves with it.~_

He descended down onto the battleground. Realizations that _he_ had been the one in their heads. Already, many of them were jumping to the conclusion that the entire thing had been _his_ fault. 

_~Why would I go to all the effort that I went to in order to_ help _you defeat the Skrulls if I'd been the one responsible for the Skrull Invasion in the first place?~_

Realizations that, with the level of power he currently had, he could have stopped the Invasion by himself and saved them all the trouble. 

_~I_ could _have. But_ should _I have?~_

Some of the geniuses got it (they didn't earn the reputations of being _geniuses_ for no reason). The Sentry and Wiccan got it (of course they did—they were probably the only beings on the planet with power that rivaled Cable's at the moment.) 

_~I helped, but, ultimately, you had to defeat the Skrulls yourselves.~_

Which reminded him: he needed to let the real Hank Pym know about the dangerous growth formula that the Pym impostor had given to Wasp.

In the moment it took him to do that, people were already starting to freak out. They were scared of him. 

They should be. ( _He_ was.) 

He had so much _power,_ and it was tempting. He could do _anything._ He could fix _everything._

He could feel everyone's _pain,_ all over the world. _So much pain._ So much _suffering._

He had the power to create _a world without suffering,_ if he wanted to. 

But did he want to? Would creating a world without suffering be _right?_

The heroes before him were all hurting. They were afraid of him. They were still in shock after the Skrull Invasion, events finally catching up to them as they finally had a chance to pause and think. Many were on the verge of panic.

_~Please, calm down. The Invasion is over. Let your dishonorable inclinations to place blame go. And no, I didn't have this much power before. But the world needed an Omega-Level mutant to handle an Omega-Level threat.~_

Deadpool, dressed in his black and white X-Force suit with the red eyes, pushed through the crowd, rolling up the bottom half of his mask to reveal a large grin. “NATE!” 

Deadpool grabbed the collar of Cable's suit and kissed him hungrily. _~I am so horny right now I can't even tell you! And do you even realize how fucking_ sexy _you are?!~_

Cable kissed him back for a few moments, a hand on the mercenary's back pulling him close, because kissing Wade was as blissful as ignorance and the world that was pounding Cable's mind with information started fading like windows steaming up. He started to pull away. _~Not now, Wa—~_

He broke off as there was a scintillating flash of sparks like somebody had set off fireworks inside his brain. 

And then everything went black.

* * *

* * *

Deadpool set the unconscious mutant down on the ground, carefully removed the dagger from Cable's frontal lobe, where he'd stabbed the blade in just the right amount in just the right spot to disrupt the main area of the brain that controlled the mutant's telepathy and telekenesis. 

He carefully wiped the dagger on his bloodstained pants (both blood of Skrulls and of his own), before sheathing it back in its hiding spot. 

He turned around to find every single gathered super-human staring at him. 

_“What?”_ he asked, gesticulating. “You all know he couldn't keep that much power without going evil and taking over the world or something!” 

[Or dying.] 

“That, too. But power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” 

They were all glancing between him and the unconscious mutant, Cable's head tilted to the side, blood streaming down his face and starting to soak into the ground. 

“I've lobotomized him before!” Deadpool said defensively. “Admittedly, with something less crude then a knife, but I still knew how to do it without killing him, and—you should all be _thanking me_ right now, y'know!” 

[You do realize that your lover is bleeding a lot, right? Head wounds bleed a lot.]

“Shit!” Deadpool realized, kneeling down next to Cable and putting his hand over the wound, trying to curb the bloodflow. “Hey, does anybody have, like, a cape or something they can tear a strip off so I can bandage his head and stop the bleeding?” 

Subdued, Wiccan ripped a strip off his red shawl, holding it out to the mercenary. 

“Thanks, Wanda junior.” He deftly bandaged the wound, which made Nate look like he was wearing a headband around his forehead, which kind of gave him a hippie look, but hey, it worked. “And hey, can everybody maybe stop staring and start dealing with the aftermath of this whole Invasion thing?” 

Leaders like Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Nicholas Fury, and Norman Osborn seemed to snap out of it and begin giving orders, and soon everybody was busy either leaving, cleaning up, or having serious discussions, or whatever else. 

When the ambulances (courtesy of the Night Nurse) arrived to collect the wounded heroes, Cable was moved onto a stretcher and loaded into one of the vehicles, Deadpool and Domino going with (read: catching a ride on the roof, where they technically weren't allowed to be, but fuck that), and the rest of X-Force returned back to their base. 

It was all very anti-climatic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was a lot of listing, but I wanted to try to show how overwhelming it would be to be everywhere and see and know everything. Lol, I literally went through the entirety of Marvel's _Secret Invasion_ wiki.
> 
> I'm guessing Nate's powers center in the frontal lobe, since Wade stuck the lobotomizing thing onto Cable's forehead in the C&D comic, and also because, in the later Cable & X-Force series when Cable's powers were going wild, Hope stabbed him in the forehead with a psimitar to stop it.


	2. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate wakes up. Wade apologizes for stabbing him in the brain.

* * *

_**~Three days later, the X-Force base~** _

* * *

The Night Nurse had had to, y'know, staple Nate's skull, or sew up his skin, or something, and Wade hadn't been in the room when she'd been doing that because he probably would have freaked out a little bit, but he'd stayed until it was clear that Nate would survive (not that he'd been _really_ worried that Nate would die, because he was very good with a knife, and boy did he know it). 

Then he'd headed back to the base because he really hated hospitals, and Domino had stayed to wait for Nate to wake up because she was cool like that.

So Wade hung out at the X-Force base, ignoring everybody else. He'd actually been so nervous and bored that he'd been hurting himself to pass the time, but Psylocke had forced him to stop, telling him that it wasn't healthy or something like that, and then Noh-Varr had given him a StarkPhone to keep him busy. 

So then Wade was sleeplessly playing games on his StarkPhone while he waited. 

Thank Stark for StarkPhones. They were awesome. And he was really liking the Candy Crush game. It was addicting. Addicting like candy. 

He was really in the candy-crushing zone when their was the sound of the base's very secure door opening, and then the sound of two pairs of footsteps, and Domino's voice calling, “Hey guys! Guess who's back!” 

[NATE!] 

Wade jumped to his feet, dropping the StarkPhone, which didn't shatter because it was StarkTech and StarkTech was built by Stark, or at least designed by Stark, who was Iron Man, so of course the phone was sturdy enough that it didn't get its screen cracked or anything when it was basically flung across the room. 

Wade was torn between wanting to run down the hall and kiss Nate senseless, and wanting to run the opposite direction and hide somewhere, because he'd kinda stabbed Nate in the brain. 

Torn between running in two different directions, Wade was frozen in place. 

Noh-Varr glanced up from the Kree gadget he was working on, but didn't take off his headphones or pause his music. (For some reason he really liked working on his gadgets in the hang-out room. For all his I-am-Kree-and-better-than-you-in-every-conceivable-and-inconceivable-way-ness, he really seemed to enjoy being around people.) 

Fantomex and Psylocke paused their flirting game (basically, Fantomex flirted shamelessly, and Psylocke played hard to get) to watch the hallway. 

Domino entered the room first, and she was talking to Nate who was behind her, saying, “I still can't _believe_ you made me wait in that hospital for _three days_ , Nathan. The Night Nurse said your brain injury had been clean and you should've woken up sooner!” 

“I might have taxed my body a fair amount while playing god,” came Nate's voice as he entered the room, and Wade trembled. 

He was wearing his mask, right? 

[Yes, we're wearing the mask. And the suit.] 

Good. That was good. 

“You and your _god complex,_ ” Domino muttered. 

But Nate's eyes had found Wade's, and it was kinda like everything else disappeared, except that instead of the ticklish butterflies Wade was pretty sure he was supposed to be feeling when the world did that tunnel-view thing, he felt like maybe he was being eating inside-out by snakes. 

Had he ever gotten eaten inside-out by snakes? 

“Wade,” Nate said.

Wade bolted.

He just vaulted over the couch and fucking _bolted._

“WADE!” Nate called, and Wade could hear the mutant's footsteps chasing after him. 

Wade ran until he got to the monitor room, which had two levels and high ceilings and was filled with screens and gadgets and mostly made of metal, and there were some metal support columns that were also probably some kind of technology themselves, and there were metal rafters high above, so Wade shimmied up one of the columns and climbed into the rafters, because he figured he was pretty safe there. 

He was in the monitor room, and if Nate was angry, he wouldn't risk destroying too much stuff. And Nate was a big guy, and wouldn't be able to scale the columns like a squirrel and jump around the rafters chasing after Wade. 

Nate was a brute force kinda guy. A body-builder or something. Compared to Nate, Wade was a fucking gymnast.

Nate slowed down as he entered the room. 

Wade closed his eyes and tucked himself up in a corner of the rafters. 

[If we can't see him, he can't see us. Right. Because that _totally_ works. Good plan, genius.]

There was a heavy sigh from below. “Wade...” 

Wade kept quiet, and kept his eyes shut tight. 

There was a soft _thunk_ on the rafters, and Wade opened his eyes in surprise to catch the blue glow of Nate's telekenesis fading from around the huge, imposingly muscular mutant. 

[So much for him not being able to get up here.] 

Wade clenched his eyes shut again and curled up into a tighter ball. He felt the reverberations of Nate's footsteps, the soft sounds of Nate's clothes as he knelt down in front of him. 

“Wade...” Nate said again, gently gripping Wade's arm. 

“I'msorryIkissedyoutodistractyouandthenstabbedyouinthebrainbutIhadtoI'msorryyoucanhurtmeifitmakesyoufeelbetterIwon'tfightyou,” Wade rambled out in a single breath, keeping his face pressed against his legs. 

Nate hissed out a breath, his grip on Wade's arm tightening. 

Wade flinched. 

“And why do you think that hurting you would make me feel better?” Nate asked quietly, voice slightly unsteady. 

“Itmakesmostpeoplefeelbetter,” Wade mumbled against his legs. 

“Wade, _look at me._ ” 

Wade shook his head. “HurtslessifIdon'tlook.”

There was a pregnant pause. “Wade, I'm not angry at you,” Nate said softly, coaxing his large fingers under Wade's chin. “And even if I _were_ mad at you, I wouldn't hurt you.” 

Nate coaxed Wade's head up, but Wade still had his eyes clenched shut. 

“Wade, I'm not going to hurt you. I don't _want_ to hurt you. I don't like seeing you hurting. It... _hurts me..._ to see you hurting.” 

Nate's thumb brushed across his cheek through the mask. “Wade, please.… Look at me.” 

When Wade finally opened his eyes, the expression on Nate's face was so tender it made him want to close his eyes again and _un_ see it. 

[You're hopelessly in love with the guy, but it scares you that he loves you back?]

Wade whimpered. 

Leaning forward, Nate kissed him softly through the mask, before leaning back again, looking at him, his left eye flashing and unreadable, his right eye deep blue and earnest. 

“Wade, I'm not angry at you for stabbing me in the brain and removing most of my powers. I'm _grateful_ to you. I had too much power. It needed to be done, and you were the only one who could. You were the only one who could close enough to me, and who's mind I couldn't comprehend.” 

Wade swallowed, trying to find his voice. For a few moments, he thought he'd lost it, but then he found it again. 

[It was hiding beneath the couch. So if it's raspy, it's because of the all the dust bunnies under there.] 

“I kinda had to betray you,” Wade rasped out, despondent. “In my past experiences, you don't react well to betrayal.” 

Nate flinched. 

“Sorry,” Wade muttered, looking down. 

“Don't be,” Nate said firmly, taking Wade's chin and forcing him to look up again, catching his gaze and holding it captive like a big-mouth bass. “Wade, you have nothing to be sorry for. And you didn't betray me—you _saved_ me. And, Wade...” his expression was desperate. “I _love_ you.” 

Wade's jaw dropped and he gaped like a fish. Because there was kinda a huge difference between _suspecting_ something and _knowing_ something—between _interpreting_ something and _hearing_ something (and he might as well keep going with the fish-themed similes while he was at it). 

_“I love you,”_ Nate repeated forcefully, and Wade couldn't look away. 

Reaching out, Nate smiled ruefully as he gently closed Wade's jaw. His hand lingered there, before brushing his cheek, then trailing down his neck, fingering the bottom edge of Wade's mask. 

“Can I take this off?” Nate asked softly, moving his gaze back to Deadpool's red eyes. 

Wade nodded mutely. 

Nate peeled the Deadpool mask off gently, slowing revealing Wade's face, marred like the surface of the moon and streaked with wetness. 

Burnt sienna eyes met his own, glistening, and Nate took Wade's face in his hands, brushing away the tears before he leaned closer to tenderly capture Wade's lips with his own.

* * *

With a needy noise, Wade pressed forward, deepening the kiss, fingers grasping at Nate's shoulders.  
Chuckling, Nate pulled back, eyes twinkling. 

“C'mere,” he said, wrapping an arm around Wade's waist and pulling him closer. 

Wade made an appreciative noise, and Nate smiled, holding Wade close to him as he telekenetically levitated them down to the floor. 

“So,” Wade said, arms around Nate's neck and legs around Nate's waist, refusing to let go of Nate even when they'd touched ground. “You still have your powers?” 

“To a much lesser extent. I have almost no telepathy, but I still have some telekenesis. Not enough to keep a metal island afloat, but enough to give me an advantage in a fight.” 

“I—” Wade paused, biting his lip and looking away, guilt once more coloring his features. “I'm glad that I didn't—y'know, mess up your brain or anything—that—I mean.” 

Nate gently lifted Wade's chin so that the mercenary met his softly smiling eyes. “I know, Wade.” 

“I'm glad you're alright,” Wade blurted, brown eyes wide. His teeth continued to worry at his lip, and Nate carefully brushed a finger over Wade's lips to get him to stop before he bit through skin and had to lick the copper blood away. 

“You're alright, right?” Wade asked desperately. 

“I'm fine, Wade,” Nate said, smiling reassuringly. “I just have to rest for a few days. Doctor's orders. Which means no sparring or copulating for the next week.” 

Wade giggled, brown eyes lighting up. “Say that word again.”

“What word?” Nate asked, raising an eyebrow in bemusement. 

“'Copulating,'” Wade grinned.

“Copulating,” Nate said obediently, smiling fondly when Wade laughed and clung to his arm, looking up at him in an adoration that made Nate's head swim. 

“Shut up, you,” Wade said under his breath, in that way that indicated he wasn't talking to anyone corporeal. 

“While I'm resting,” Nate offered, “what do you say we marathon one of those TV series you wanted to show me?” 

Wade's face lit up in grin as large and excited as that of a child at Christmas, and he began pushing Nate to get him to start moving, saying, “Golden Girls, here we come!” 

Nate chuckled as he began walking down the hall, Wade following behind him.

* * *

“Can't you go any faster, Nate?” Wade asked, pushing him in the back and poking him impatiently. “Move that sexy ass! Just because Bea has been immortalized in a TV show and will wait for us forever doesn't mean we should make her wait that long!”

[Yeah, we're already making Death wait like that. We don't need the bad rep of always keeping our girls waiting.]

Nate turned and caught Wade's hand to keep the merc from poking him, but when Wade huffed, Nate just smiled, threading his metal fingers through Wade's flesh ones. 

[Ooh, shiny!]

“Holding hands, huh?” Wade asked, staring in rapt fascination at Nate's techno-organic hand, the way the plates of living metal shifted when Nate moved the metal muscles, tendons, and joints. “Holding hands is cool. _Literally,_ when it's your T-O hand. Hey,” he said, not shifting his gaze from Nate's metal fingers, “do you actually have metal bones and blood and muscles and tendons and stuff, are does is it just metal that _looks_ like it has human body structure?” 

“Come on,” Nate said, smiling as he started walking down the hall, Wade next right there next to him. “Let's go watch your show.” 

[He totally avoided the question. Quick, ask another one! See if he avoids that one, too!]

“Ooh!” Wade said, looking up at Nate and smiling hopefully. “Can we cuddle on the couch?”

Nate's lips twitched. “And why wouldn't we?” 

“I think I want the answer to that question to be _No reason.”_

Nate squeezed his hand. “Then that's the answer.”

* * *

_**~An hour later~** _

* * *

When Neena walked into the hang-out room to find Nathan and Wade cuddling on the couch, Wade curled up in Nathan's lap, she turned to Jean-Phillipe, gesturing at Nathan and Wade as she asked, “Is it just me, or is that adorable?” 

Jean-Phillipe looked at them, then back at Neena. “ _Non_ —it is just you.” 

He walked out of the room.

Neena turned to Elizabeth. “Come on, you've gotta admit that's pretty cute,” she said, gesturing to the two men cuddling and watching the TV. 

Elizabeth looked at them for a moment. Nathan was rubbing a hand over Wade's back while the merc nuzzled against him, sighing contentedly. 

“It's kinda cute,” Elizabeth admitted after a moment. “They're happy. The fact that two men like that can find happiness means there's hope for all of us, I think.” 

“Yeah,” Neena said, looking back at the soldier and the mercenary. For a moment, she felt a twinge of jealousy—Nathan had never looked that content with _her_ —but she quickly dismissed it. 

Nathan and Wade were perfect for each other because they were both so incredibly fucked up. 

But Neena? Yeah, Neena could do _way_ better. 

“Ugh, I need to get laid,” she complained, wandering out of the room. 

Maybe she should hit a bar.

She did have a tendency to get lucky, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ughh, these cute endings, whaaat? XD I had to put the last part in cuz ending with Nate and Wade was just too cute, and I've already ended a few of these things end cutely like that. 
> 
> But it's either cute or tragic... those are, like, my only two modes... I actually kinda prefer tragic, but I then I have to fix the tragic, so o.e I like breaking things, but I don't like leaving things broken and then I have to fix them afterwards, and that makes things get looooong lol. So this story arc is probably gonna go on for… for… aww, fuck it all. There's no end in sight. How frustrating.
> 
> Anyways! Thoughts?


End file.
